Is this a Business trip?

Posted on Thu 8th Sep, 2022 @ 12:24pm by Maiek s'Ethien & Mary Elizabeth Gregory

1,792 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: The Hunted
Location: The Hangman's Noose
Timeline: MD 3: 0945

Why don't you take the Jovith? Those words from Verelan were quite all encompassing as the plans for the trip began to rise from his mind into being. Why don't you take the Jovith indeed. He was certain there was more at play here, but he hadn't the ambassadorial mind that Verelan would like him to have. Artists are softer. You haven't the quick wit to do her job, nor the control it would take to be successful.

He'd scheduled the itinerary to get to Earth in the quickest way, because he was going to be in an Ambassadorial craft. It wouldn't take the typical amount of rigamarole, once Verelan's approval was upon the voyage. They would be going towards New Romulus first, and that was what he was going to tell his intended, so their arrival at Earth would be a complete surprise.

The cargo hold of the Jovith was being loaded with the appropriate gifts and bribes that an Ambassador of Romulus needed, and he was to deliver them to the Federation Council to the Chief Ambassador. He pondered what that life must be like, as he walked the short distance to the Noose from his workshop.

"Good morning" he greeted the lady whose name he could never remember. One of Mary Elizabeth's regular staffers, who often sat at the hostess' station. "Is she busy this morning?"

Menali Coburn beamed at the gorgeous Romulan guy. He was completely her boss's, but hey, a girl could enjoy drooling. She would be sure to tell Miranda all about it at lunch. "Hello, Mr. s'Ethien. It's morning, so everyone's busy with the breakfast crowd, but if you go to the bar, Miss Gregory'll be glad to see you. You might like to try the aesollh tea and the chicken-fried hlai with waffles."

"Truly?" His eyes brightened with delight at the idea of aesollh tea. Mary Elizabeth had been experimenting with Romulan foods since Verelan had placed the idea in her head that such a thing was possible. " I'd love to try another attempt at aesollh tea. The first was delightful, but not quite right."

Settling in to the last seat at the bar, Maiek waited for service.

It took Mary Elizabeth a couple of minutes to notice him. She stood discussing a traditional English breakfast fry with a Klingon guest. "Yes, that is genuine blood sausage," she assured him as he poked at the slice of it with his fork. "The bacon's good, too, and you can dip the fried bread in the egg yolk."

"I do like the bacon," the Klingon admitted. "You do not seem like the sort of human who would enjoy blood in her food."

Mary Elizabeth smiled at him. "I trained as a chef. And you should never judge a book by its cover. Enjoy your breakfast!" She took hold of the plate that one of the kitchen staff handed her and set it down before another customer. Then she caught sight of Maiek at the far end of the bar and grinned at him. She leaned in for a kiss when she reached him. "However did you escape from the embassy before noon?" she asked. "Did you rappel down with a rope or get carried out in a roll of carpet?"

"Orders from the Great Lady Herself" he proclaimed, hand fisted over his chest in a proper salute, after he'd leaned over the bar to kiss her. He had his priorities in their proper place, after all.

"Really? All right, then. As we say on Earth, 'Never look a gift horse in the mouth.' Would you like brunch?" Mary Elizabeth asked. "My Klingon customer over there has me in the mood for Million-Dollar Bacon. I'm even willing to share."

"You do not have to torque my arm" he said grinning at her "I am growing quite fond of bacon. Though I must say I heard rumor of aesollh tea?" Thick eyelashes lowered a little to allow him to gaze through at his lady.

"You heard correctly. And fried hlai, with or without waffles, as you prefer." Mary Elizabeth grinned at him. "Shall I bring your tea out now?"

" I love human quisine. Yes, I will have waffles, but with the crystallized syrup on top? " He took a deep breath and sighed happily. "And now would be perfection if it brings with it the pleasure of your company"

Mary Elizabeth laughed. "Fried hlai on waffles with syrup, a large pot of aesollh tea, a double order of caramelized bacon, and a side order of Me, coming right up!" She entered the order onto a PADD. "So why did She Who Must Be Obeyed let you loose?"

"I'll take my side order of Mary Elizabeth right now, I could use a nibble." he drew her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to the wrist pulse point. "For your question...another question. How would the Noose fare without you for a week or two?"

A beatific smile hovered on her lips as he kissed her, to be replaced with a baffled look a moment later. "Huh?" Mary Elizabeth blinked. "You're asking if I can go on holiday? Er--yes, the Noose can be without me for a fortnight. It would be a pretty badly run place if it fell apart any time I left." She captured his hand and kissed the back of his fingers. "What are you cooking up in that brain of yours, my love?"

"She has asked me to I believe the term is 'run an errand' for her. To New Romulus, and I thought perhaps you might like to join me as she has so graciously allowed me the loan of the Jovith. See the culture for what it is now, you know..." He gestured with his hand in a broad sweeping sort of way. It was not entirely a lie, he did need to go to New Romulus, but the sole purpose of the trip was much grander than that.

Mary Elizabeth nodded. "See how well your people and I relate to each other, gauge their reactions to me and what I represent to your culture, with the side benefit of a good bit of time alone with you." Mary Elizabeth winked at him. "I cannot fault her reasoning. In fact, I like it rather a lot! How soon do you need to leave? I'll need to work out schedules with my staff so we have coverage for the two weeks."

"That is a benefit that I had also considered. " His dark eyes twinkled at her merrily. "She'd like me to leave yesterday, but I can wait for you to get your scheduling in order".

"Grand!" Mary Elizabeth set a plate of fried hlai strips on a waffle in front of Maiek, along with all the fixings and a pot of steaming aesollh tea. She poured him a mug and slid it over to him before pouring her own. "You're the fashion maven; what kind of clothing should I bring?" She paused. "Meaning, am I to meet this ambassador you're visiting, or not?"

"Yes. You will need to meet him". Maiek chuckled at the prospect. "I shall dress you appropriately for every occasion ar'rhea, worry not". He bit into a fried hlai strip and chewed. He then dusted it with pepper and lemon juice. Biting again he beamed like a boy in a candy store.

Interested, Mary Elizabeth made a note of that. "Lemon-pepper hlai. Neat! Is that how it's supposed to taste, or is that your personal preference?"

"This is very close to the way I grew up eating it " His fingertips touched her hand and then slid into her grasp.

"I'll keep that in mind." Mary Elizabeth grinned at him and then lifted his fingers to her lips for a brief kiss. "So not a jeans and t-shirt trip, then. Good to know. So what is this ambassador like?"

"Please bring your jeans, if for nothing else than my enjoyment. I am not actually certain about the ambassador. It has changed since I was last there. I have not yet looked him up".

"We can look up the ambassador on the way," Mary Elizabeth said with a nod. She held out her hand for a plate of bacon that someone brought her from the kitchen. It contained eight rashers of candied bacon that had been sprinkled with black pepper. She set it down on the bar so Maiek could reach it. "This is from an old Earth recipe, but it was new to me. I came across it a few weeks ago and once I tried it, I had to add it to the menu. It's positively addictive--for me, at any rate." She plucked a strip of the bacon, bit into it, and chewed with a beatific expression on her face.

His eyes never left her face, and he took note of every nuance of change in her expression. He snagged a piece of the bacon and crunched on the end of one. The sweet crunch was met by salt and beautiful crunch "Oh...lovely."

"What really makes that dish is the black pepper, which cuts the sweetness and gives it a nice pop." Mary Elizabeth wiped her fingers off with a napkin and sipped from her tea. "All right, so two weeks, starting from tomorrow. What time do I need to be ready to leave, and what climate should I pack for?"

"It's much like Earth, actually. Warm. It's in the rainy season, so nothing that will be ruined by water. ". He envisioned pulling her out into a storm and letting the rain soak them to the skin as they walked through it. "On second thought..."

Mary Elizabeth laughed. "On second thought, you'd like to see me in a wet t-shirt. Naughty man!" She tapped his nose with a rasher of bacon and then bit into the strip. "I'll get together with Mrs. Ellis and play musical chairs with the schedule. Should we speak to your aunt before we leave? I'm sure she's likely to have instructions."

"She has a direct link to the Jovith, do not concern yourself for one moment that she will not make her wishes known in exquisite detail.". Wiping his nose absently he rubbed the grease on his napkin.

"Sorry about that," Mary Elizabeth said but with more mischief than chagrin. "In that case, my love, enjoy your breakfast, and I shall wrestle with the schedule. I'll be back in a bit."

"Right, I'll be here." He waved at her with a slice of bacon he'd just lifted from the plate.

 

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